Convicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has intensified his public support for President Donald Trump while criticizing his predecessor, Joe Biden. This shift follows the recent release of former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison from federal custody. Observers speculate Bankman-Fried is seeking a presidential pardon, a possibility traders on prediction platform Polymarket currently assign a 17% chance to.
Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has ramped up his social media praise for President Donald Trump while taking aim at former President Joe Biden. This comes just days after Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, was released from federal custody.
Since Bankman-Fried’s February 2025 interview and March media appearance, many see him as angling for a pardon from Trump. “@realdonaldtrump is right on crypto,” Bankman-Fried said in a recent post on X.
Bankman-Fried also praised Trump’s arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, calling the move “smart, gutsy, and pro-democracy.” Simultaneously, he criticized the previous administration, which he once backed with millions in political donations.
“All the world leaders I met were fed up with Biden,” he said, adding that he “bungled crypto.” Bankman-Fried argued that Biden chose Gary Gensler for SEC chair, who adopted a regulation-first approach before stepping down in January 2025.
Gensler’s successor, Paul Atkins, sworn in by Trump in April 2025, is widely viewed as far more crypto-friendly. Following FTX’s 2022 collapse, Bankman-Fried was convicted on seven felony counts and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
In November 2025, Bankman-Fried appealed his conviction and is awaiting results. Traders on predictions platform Polymarket currently assign just a 17% chance that Trump will pardon him before 2027.
